October 2021

Table of Contents

• Grants and Contracts Accounting
• Updates
• New educational resource: VCU Kaltura NCURA* webinar archive channel
• Featured NCURA Webinar: Excel Tips for Pre- and Post-Award Administrators
• ECC Launched Monday, October 11, 2021
• Effort Reporting and the ECC System Training Opportunities
• Global Education Office
• Sponsored University Travel
• Procurement Services
• New Revenue Refund Form
• P-Card Classroom Training
• FY22 P-Card Canvas Training and Test – Deadline Monday, November 1st
• Procurement Invites Early HEETF Requests
• New Vendor Guidance - COVID-19 Certification For New Vendors/Contractors
• Office of the Provost
• ePrint Report Data Resolved
• Insurance and Risk Management
• New Travel Accident Insurance for International Travelers

Grants and Contracts Accounting

Team Updates

We are excited to welcome two team members who joined our G&C team in September!

Amanda Moore joined Team Gamma on September 3rd. Amanda has worked in higher education for four years and is returning to VCU from the University of Richmond. She enjoys yoga, hiking, walking, and cooking in her spare time. Amanda is family-oriented and enjoys spending time with her loved ones.

David Plunkett joined the Cash Compliance Team in G&C as a Senior Accountant on September 13th. David graduated from VCU with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Post Baccalaureate certificate in Information Systems. He has 14 years of post-award grant administration experience, including his previous tenure at G&C. In his free time, David enjoys traveling with his wife Lisa, spending time with his five-year-old niece Stella, and rooting for the VCU Rams basketball team

New educational resource: VCU Kaltura NCURA* webinar archive channel.

If you missed one of our NCURA unlimited, login webinar purchases or would like to revisit a webinar when training new colleagues, many of the webinars are now housed in the VCU Kaltura channel, NCURA webinar archive. Presentation slides and additional handouts for each webinar can be downloaded from attachments. Although this will offer convenience when revisiting or utilizing past recordings for training, additional steps will still be necessary in order to generate a Continuing Education Certificate (CEU transcript). Please contact Cathy Short (Training Manager, Sponsored Programs / G&C, cfshort@vcu.edu) with any questions regarding the NCURA webinar archive or for assistance with CEU transcripts.

Featured NCURA Webinar: Excel Tips for Pre- and Post-Award Administrators

Excel Tips for Pre- and Post-Award Administrators

* NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators) is a professional organization that offers excellent educational materials on various research administration topics designed to reach a broad audience.

ECC Launched Monday, October 11, 2021

On Monday, October 11, 2021, effort coordinators within ECC received a system-generated email notifying them that the pre-review period is now open. Effort coordinators will have 30 days to pre-review their corresponding effort & project statements. On November 10, 2021, all statements that have been pre-reviewed will route to faculty and PIs for certification. For more information on the pre-review period and what is required, please attend one of our training sessions via Canvas or Zoom.

Additionally, after October 11, 2021, access to the old system ECRT will be limited to only effort coordinators that still have outstanding effort statements in their departments. If your department has no outstanding effort statements, you will be unable to access ECRT. The new system, ECC, will be available to all effort coordinators, faculty & PIs at the University. Thank you for your time, patience and assistance. Please reach out to effortreport@vcu.edu if you have any further questions.

Effort Reporting and the ECC System Training Opportunities

- Zoom Instructor Led Sessions: Introduction to ECC

Effort Reporting (ECC) training sessions are being held weekly through November to provide an overview of the new Effort Reporting system (ECC) and updates to our effort methodology.

- Canvas Course (Effort Reporting 101: Effort Coordinator Training)

A self-paced training course for Effort Coordinators is now available on Canvas!

- Effort Reporting Tutorials:

A library of brief tutorials demonstrating common ECC process is now available on the Effort Reporting training webpage:

- Effort Reporting and ECC system Training for Principal Investigators

The Canvas training course for Principal Investigators, Mandatory Sponsored Projects and Effort Reporting Training, has been updated to include the following module: Effort Reporting and ECC for Investigators.

- Effort Reporting and ECC Training for Certifiers Request

The Effort Reporting team is hosting Effort Reporting and ECC Training for Certifiers sessions by department upon request. Please contact your Effort Coordinator or the Effort Reporting team (effortreport@vcu.edu) for more information about how to schedule a session for your faculty.

Feel free to contact Cathy Short (Training Manager, G&C / DSP, cfshort@vcu.edu) or the Effort Reporting team (effortreport@vcu.edu) with any questions about these opportunities.

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Global Education Office

Guidelines for University-Sponsored International Travel for VCU Faculty and Staff

Please note that per VCU’s current guidelines for university-sponsored international travel, travel to U.S. Department of State Level 4 countries is not permitted, and travel to Level 3 countries must be considered through a petition to VCU’s International Travel Advisory Committee.

Employees should not complete the travel pre-approval process in ChromeRiver until final approval of the exception has been granted by the ITAC and either the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs or the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health System and communicated by GEO. This petition process does not replace fiscal or administrative levels of approval for travel, and exists for travel review only. Student petitions may be completed here and employee petitions can be found here. Questions regarding this process can be directed to itac@vcu.edu.

Important information on VCU international travel can be found on the newly updated International Travel at VCU website. The site contains helpful resources and information on export control regulations, insurance, device and network security, what to do in an emergency, and more. Please review this site in preparation for any VCU-sponsored international travel.

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Procurement Services

New Revenue Refund Form

Procurement Services has added a new RealSource AP form to its line-up of direct payment requests. Located on the RealSource AP showcase, the form must be used to submit all Revenue Refund Requests. Since these require the collection of special data, a unique form was created. It is easy to use and includes on-line workflow approvals. If you have questions about the form, please email us at RealSource@vcu.edu.

P-Card Classroom Training

P-Card will offer “classroom” training in November via Zoom. To enroll, please visit training.vcu.edu and use the keyword search “pcard.”

Please note: attending a classroom training, does not grant an exemption from the Canvas training(s) and test(s). If you have further questions, please contact Corpcard@vcu.edu.

FY22 P-Card Canvas Training and Test – Deadline Monday, November 1st

The FY22 P-Card Canvas Training and Test has launched on Canvas! All Cardholders and Approvers are required to complete the annual test to re-certify their compliance with the terms and conditions of the P-Card program.

Users must complete the training(s) and test(s) by Monday, November 1st. Cardholder and/or Approver privileges are automatically suspended if this required training is not completed by the deadline.

All online courses at the university, including P-Card training courses, migrated to the Canvas platform this year. Blackboard is no longer in use at the university. General announcements and deadline information is provided through Canvas, so please be certain to review all Canvas communications. If you have already completed the FY22 training requirements, no further action is required.

Please note: attending a classroom training, does not grant an exemption from the Canvas training(s) and test(s). If you have further questions, please contact Corpcard@vcu.edu.

Procurement Invites Early HEETF Requests

Collaborating with Procurement Services is the first step toward making HEETF-funded purchases. Procurement Services welcomes and encourages departments to engage our team as early in the process as possible, particularly if they have been approved for a large purchase. Procurement will work in tandem with subject-matter experts and professionals in the department, identify the appropriate procurement method, and manage contract term negotiation.

Please send inquiries to Procurement_Services@vcu.edu by indicating the purchase as a HEETF-funded procurement and including SCHEV approval status.

New Vendor Guidance - COVID-19 Certification For New Vendors/Contractors

Procurement Services issued new Vendor Guidelines on September 28th to support the health and safety of the VCU community under our together.vcu.edu response to COVID-19. Vendors working in or on university-operated property and those providing face-to-face services to VCU employees and/or students are required to certify that:

Procurement Services has already notified all existing Vendors working on campus or directly with VCU employees and students, and many have already certified. Departments can check if a specific Vendor has completed their certification by reviewing the Vendor's profile in RealSource. If certified, you will see a yellow asterisk beside the Vendor. Instructions for checking if Vendors are certified how to get Vendors new to campus certified can be found on Procurement Services Website. Certification is only required once per Vendor.

Since departments are often in direct contact with Vendors before a purchase is made for services being performed on VCU’s campus, it is important to ensure that qualifying Vendors have completed and submitted the required certification before reporting to campus. Vendors must certify to the above requirements via email to pspurchasing@vcu.edu.

If you have questions, please email us at Procurement_Services@vcu.edu.

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Office of the Provost

ePrint Report Data Resolved

An issue caused some ePrint reports run on 10/1/21 to exclude transactions from 9/30/21. Data in the FGRODTA and FGRBDSC reports appear to be accurate for the month of September 2021. All other ePrint reports have been re-run to correct any missing transactions. However, because this affects the timing of the corrected reports, they will include budget entries processed in October. Please keep this in mind when reviewing ePrint reports.

Users can also pull budget status or transaction detail data through the following reports in the VCU Reporting Center:

1) Revenue and Expenditures Organizational Details Report
2) Transaction Detail Report

Please contact finsecurity@vcu.edu or the Banner Help Desk (828-0388) if you have any additional questions.

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Insurance and Risk Management

New Travel Accident Insurance for International Travelers

Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI) is the new provider of emergency evacuation and travel assistance services for VCU. VCU and VCU Health System employees, as well as students, and other authorized travelers are covered while on VCU related travel abroad.

Employees and other authorized business travelers are automatically covered but are encouraged to register their international itinerary on VCU’s CISI Business Travel website. Travelers may also consider the optional travel health insurance coverage offered by CISI at a discounted daily rate.

Students participating in most education abroad programs administered by the VCU Global Education Office will be automatically enrolled by GEO in the CISI plan. All other student travelers will be prompted to self-enroll in the plan upon registration with GEO. Students should visit the GEO website for more information regarding enrollment or contact abroad@vcu.edu.

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